AKAROA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 4, Issue 314, 22 July 1879, Page 2

AKAROA COUNTY COUNCIL.

Saturday, Jdly 19, This body met at the Hotel, Hill Top, Barry's Bay Pass, on the above date. Present—Messrs W. F. Williams (Chairman), J. Gebbie, W. Coop, C. M'DonaJd, J. B. Barker, J. Hay, and Rev. R. Bradley. The minutes of the special and ordinary meetings of 23rd May last were read and confirmed. chairman's statement.

Since our last meeting, held on the 23rd May, copies of the yearly balance-sheet of the County as adopted by the Council, have been prepared in triplicate, and forwarded to the Colonial Treasurer, as required by the Act. In accordance with your written con sent, Mr H. Piper has been paid the sum of £25, being amount agreed upon for the site, and the deed has been signed and forwarded to the Council's Solicitors for completion. Messrs Hughes and Co., the contractors for the Council Chambers, have commenced work, and now have the frame of the building up. Notice having been received from the the Akaroa Domain Board that the forest trees (which they were asked to raise when the grant of £500 was allocated to them) were ready for transplanting. I thought it best to advertise for applications from local public bodies, and six applications were received as follows :—• TreesChurch of England Cemetery, per Rev H. Slocker 50 Roman Catholic Cemetery, per Mr J. Cullen ;.. 100 Roman Catholic Church, per J. Cullen 50 Barry's Bay School, per Mr D. Loconite, jun. ... ... ... 100 Robinson's Bay School, per Mr Whitfield 100 French Farm School, per Mr Knox... 100 Akaroa and W'ainui Road Board, per Mr Bar wick' 100 600

Which have been sent to the respective bodies. There still remain about 3000 trees ready for distribution. ; During the past fortnight several persons in the Little River District were summonsed for having unregistered dogs in their possessioa, but they were all dismissed on the plea .that they had great difficulty in obtaining collars from the Registrar living so far away, i I wish to draw your attention to the fact that no dog fees have been received for the last two months from Mr D. Wright, Registrar, Okain's Bay, and I would ask the Council to do something in the matter.

The amount to the credit of the Akaroa County Fund account this day is £2378 6s, and the Akaroa County Council account, £1228 14s, out of which sundry accounts will be placed before you for payment. I wish to draw your attention to the grants that were made to the Pigeon Bay recreation ground, of £57 2s 10d, the Little* River recreation ground, of £57 2s 10d, the Port Victoria Cemetery, of £10, and the Little River Cemetery, of £50 (contingent on a Government vote not been paid). These grants were passed in April, 1878, subject to the following conditions :—" That should any of the votes be unexpended at.the end of six months from this date the money shall be re-voted by the Council to such cemeteries and domains as it shall then be deemed advisable." At a meeting of the Council on October 24, 1878, the Little River votes of £57 2 10d for recreation ground and £50 for Cemetery be re-voted for the further term of three months, subject to the previous conditions of the Council, and on November 27 it was resolved that the £50 originally voted to the Little River Cemetery be handed over to the Trustees without the restriction relative to the Govemment vote. As the time has expired, and no applications have been received for these votes, I think it now rests with the Council to re-vote these sums.

In a letter received from Mr Aylmer, R.M., he states that the sum of £30, being license fees from Bruce's Hotel, has been paid into the credit of the Akaroa County Fund, instead of the Borough Council, and asking the Council to refund the same. Mr Dawber has written to the Council, asking them to do something to the Summit road in Lβ Bon's Bay, as the Okain's Bay Eoad Board have informed him it is a County road. Mr Gillespie has also written, complaining that the Pigeon Bay Road Board have agreed to place the Public Pound on a road which would injure him. RE-FOND OF LICENSE. A letter was read from Mr J. Aj'lmer, Chairman of the Licensing Bench, stating that the Clerk to that body had returned the Hotel license for Bruce's Hotel, Akaroa, as payable to the County Council, instead of the Borough Council, in error, and asking that steps might be taken to set the matter right. Mr J. Gebbie moved that the sum of £30 paid in error to the Council be refunded to the Borough Council of Akaroa, to whom it was properly due. The motion was seconded by Mr Barker and agreed to.

OFFICE SITE. Mr Gebbie moved that the action of the Chairman in paying Mr Piper the amount of the price fixed on, £25, for the site of the Council's offices, be approved of. The motion was seconded by Mr J. Hay and carried, The Chairman at the same time kid on the table the conveyance for same, as prepared by Messrs Harper and Harper, solicitors, Christchurch, THE CHINESE QUESTION A circular was received from the Maniototo County Council, drawing the attention of the Council to the large increase in the nnmber of Chinamen in New Zealand, and also that they were taking contracts under the Public Works of the Colony at prices at which Europeans could not compete, and asking the co-operation of the Council to move ths Government to check their further increase. Mr Gebbie did not see that the matter concerned the Council; he was of opinion that the Chinamen were entitled to live as well as Europeans. He would move that the communication lie on the table. Agreed to. NEW POUND, PIGEON BAY. Mr J. Gillespie wrote, complaining to the Council that the Pigeon Bay Koad Board were about to erect the new Pound on a public road which bounded part of his property, and that the said road has not been closed in terms of clause 93 of " The Public Works Act, 1876." Mr Hay explained that it was proposed to erect the Pound in question on a corner of the old Akaroa road which had been left when the road was diverted. The road was two chains wide at the part indicated, and the Pound would not interfere with the road. Mr Gillespie, though a member of the Board, had not objected to the matter when it was under consideration at the Board, but the Board would now let the question of site stand over until they could procure a piece of suitable ground. On the motion of Mr Gebbie, it -wae resolved to send a copy of Mr Gillespie's letter to the Pigeon Bay Board. Seconded by Mr Hay and carried. SUMMIT ItOAD.

Mr R. Dawber wrote, requesting the Council to make the Lβ Bon's Bay Summit road leading to his property in Le Bon's passable, and explaining that he had addressed the Council on the subject, as he had been informed by the Okain's Bay Road Board that the road iv question was a County road. Mr Barker stated that if the Clerk had so written to Mr Dawber, he had done so without the sanction of the Board. Mr Gebbie moved that a copy of Mr Dawber's letter be sent to the Okain's Bay Road Board for an explanation. The motion was seconded by Mr Barker and carried. ADDRESS TO THE GOVERNOR. A letter was received from the Private Secretary to the Government, acknowledging receipt of the Council's address, and expressing his Excellency's regret at having been prevented visiting Akaroa, and his hopes before long to be able to rectify the omission. ALLOCATION OF FOREST TREES. The Chairman read the correspondence relating to this matter, and reported that the applications which bad been received had all been supplied. Two further applications were received, viz., one from the Trustees of the Cemetery and Recreation Ground, Duvauchelle's Bay, and one from the Le Bon's Bay Cemetery.

The Chairman was authorised to invite further applications for trees, and to deal with any that might be received. DOG KEQISTRATION. f Mr Gebbie stated that Mr Wilson attended once a week at- Little River, and brought a supply of dog collars with him. For some time past, however, none had registered, and he understood that several cases had been dismissed on the ground of the difficulty of obtaining them. This was a mere pretest. It was resolved to call f .he attention of the authorities to the facts. ROAD IN LE BON'S BAY. A letter was read from the Okain's Road Board in reply to one from the Council, enclosing copy of letter from Mr Crotty. In reply,* the Board stated that they were unable to undertake the work- asked for by Mr Crotty, as considerable expense would be incurred for compensation. If Mr Crotty, or his neighbor, Mr Smith, would forego their claims for compensation, the Board would be enabled to make a good road coming out above the cutting. Resolved— That a copy of the Board's letter be forwarded to Mr Crotty. MOUNT BOSSU ROAD. The Little River Road Board wrote, forwarding a copy of resolution arrived at by that body re employing Mr Fenton to superintend the above work, together with that gentleman's reply, accepting the work, and stating his terms. COUNCIL CHAMBERS. Mr Gebbie drew attention to the fact that one of the coritractor'-s sureties wae the engineer entrusted with the superintendence of the work. No man could serve two masters. The general opinion was that this had been a grave oversight. Mr Gebbie suggested that the Building Committee be invited to endeavor to make some ether arrangement. A motion to this .effect was carried. LICENSING FEES. . The Customs Department wrote, stating that £205 5s had been paid in to the credit of the Council for licenses. Among the items was a sum of £30 for Briice's hotel, Akaroa, which the Chairman stated had been paid in in error, and the Council would have to refund to the Borough Council.

DOG COLLARS. . Mr D. Wright, registrar for Okain's Bay, wrote, forwarding a return of dogs registered by him up to date, and promising to send the cash. Mr Gebbie moved that Mr Wright be requested to forword the money at once. SPECIAL GRANT TO PORT LEVY AND PIGEON BAY. The Chairman called the attention of the Council to the fact that a special grant of £1000 for a road between these places had not yet been applied for. According to a resolution of the Council this sum had lapsed to the Council as it had not been applied for within the stipulated time. Mr Hay explained that the Pigeon Bay Board, in conjunction with Port Levy, had expended about £250 on grading the line. Since then they found that this work was useless, as the grade was not what it was represented to be. He was under the impression that a letter had been written, signed by the two Chairmen, asking for this money to be placed to their credit. He would suggest that the money be revoted, and the time for application be extended.

The Chairman said that notice of such a motion would have to be given. Mr Coop accordingly gave notice that at the next meeting, he would move that the Council extend the time for application to be received for the sum in question. PORT VICTOBIA CEMETERY. Mr Gebbie stated that there was a sum of £10 in the hands of the Council which had been voted for this purpose. They would not be able to draw the money, as the cemetery was Chnrch property, and not in the hands of trustees. It was resolved that all sums unclaimed on account of cemeteries; and domains be also taken into consideration at next meeting. LE BON'S BAY POUND. Mr Barker reported that the pound in Le Bon's Bay was now complete.; He brought forward the proposed list of fees, and asked the Council to sanction them. It was the regular Provincial scale. Most of the Councillors were of opinion that the matter had better be postponed till next meeting. On the motion of Mr Hay the consideration of the matter was postponed till next meeting.

PAYMENTS. The following accounts were passed for payment:— IS. Hughes, progress payment £200 ' 0 0 -AkaroaMail 9 2 6 Press Co. 2 10 0 Lyttelton Times ... Oil 0 Rent of polling booth 0 10 0 Refund to Borough of Akaroa 30 0 0 Clerk's salary 32 10 0 £275 3 6 SIGNING CHEQUES. Mr Coop asked what was the arrangement about signing cheques. The Chairman read the resolution by which Messrs Hay and Dalglish had been appointed for that purpose. "Mr Coop pointed out the{ inconvenience caused by the signing being necessarily done by two certain Councillors, one of whom might be absent, or incapacitated by illness. He would move that Messrs Hay and Bradley be appointed for the purpose. Carried. The Council then adjourned to Saturday, August 16, at the same time and place.